ame from
the desert where they had fasted, prayed, and given themselves to
meditation. They came in the name of Jehovah, not as warriors in
judgment, but as preachers. They called the Israelites to repent, to
overthrow their idols, to return to Jehovah; they foretold all the
woes that would come upon them if they did not reconcile themselves to
him. They preached and uttered prophecies at the same time.

=The New Teaching.=--These men on fire with the divine spirit found
the official religion at Jerusalem mean and cold. Why should they,
like the idolaters, slaughter cattle and burn incense to the honor of
God? "Hear the word of Jehovah," says Isaiah: "To what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams
and of the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.... Bring no more vain
oblations, your incense is an abomination to me.... When ye spread
forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ... for your hands
are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean ... cease to do evil,
learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow.... Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow." In place of sacrifices, the prophets
would set justice and good works.

=The Messiah.=--Israel deserved its afflictions, but there would be a
limit to the chastisement. "O my people," says Isaiah in the name of
Jehovah, "be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a
rod ... after the manner of Egypt ... for yet a very little while and
the indignation shall cease ... and the burden shall be taken away
from off thy shoulder." The prophets taught the people to look for the
coming of Him who should deliver them; they prepared the way for the
Messiah.

THE JEWISH PEOPLE

=Return to Jerusalem.=--The children of Judah, removed to the plain of
the Euphrates, did not forget their country, but sang of it in their
chants: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept
when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the
midst thereof, for there they that carried us away required a song ...
saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How shall we sing the
Lord's song in a strange land?" After seventy years of captivity,
Cyrus, victor over Babylon, allowed the Israelites to return to
Palestine. They rebuilt Jerusalem, reconstructed the temple, restored
the feasts